Belief in a Hero
by PowerPlayer
Summary: *Spoilers* After losing her magic, Shantae takes some time to reflect on past events, and those that she met over the course of her life. Set after Risky's Revenge. *Suspended Indefinitely*
1. Chapter 1

Confusion

Hovering in the clear night sky, the moon loomed over the ocean, staring down at its reflection, almost crystal clear in the normally choppy waters. What little waves there were gently hit the shores of Ammo Town, doing little to disturb the peaceful night.

With the wind blowing gently, the lights put to rest, and the town shops shut down, Ammo Town's residents were able to sleep peacefully.

However, the one who needed rest the most, had spent the entire night being awake.

* * *

_..._

On the outskirts of Ammo Town sat a lighthouse, sitting on a small island a few yards away. Outside sat a young lady, letting her feet rest in the water as she stared out into the sea.

This young woman is Shantae, the current Guardian and savior of Ammo Town, as well as a former Half-Genie.

Sitting on the edge of the small island, changed into her night wear, she stroked her long, violet hair which she had decided to let down. Besides that, she had a few bandages on her body, covering up several minor injuries she had acquired on her latest adventure to protect the home she loved so much.

And while she hadn't suffered too much physically, this adventure had cost her the magical power she had inherited at birth. Almost all of the abilities she had used to protect the town and the people she loved was stripped away in almost an instant.

_...I'm human._

Shantae broke her gaze from the endless darkness of the night sky, and stared down at her reflection. Her bright blue eyes had lost their usual glow, making them look tired and spent.

_No magic dances, no transformations, no more getting around the way I normally did._

The mirror image of the young Guardian rippled as she pulled her feet up from the water. She pulled up her legs wrapping her arms around them, and curling herself up, as she returned to staring out into nothingness.

_I'll never be able to soar through the air, or swim through the seas, again. I'll never scale any more walls, or smash through any barriers blocking my path._

The grip around her legs tightened as Shantae closed her eyes.

_All I have are my items... just my stupid items and-_

Shantae's thoughts were cut off as a strand of her violet hair brushed past her ear. She lifted her head up, crossed her legs, and ran her fingers through it.

_My hair. The only thing I have left to connect me with my mother... and the only reason I managed to defeat Risky._

_This is all I have. I love my hair, but, what am I supposed to do when Risky attacks again. She already took my powers, and even without that cursed lamp, she has enough skills, and Tinkerbats to destroy the town whenever she pleases. _

_What would happen then?_

Shantae gritted her teeth, wrapping her arms around herself,

_What if I'm too weak to protect everyone? Risky could just storm in with her giant steam-powered ship, and take everyone I care about away before I could do anything!_

_Bolo, Sky, Wrench, Mayor Scuttlebutt, Uncle Mimic... for all I know, she might even go after Rottytops and her brothers!_

_How can everyone be so sure that I can do this, when I don't even know?!_

Suddenly, a harsh wind blew over Shantae, and a chill ran up her body, starting from her feet, which were still wet from the water.

**'Choo!**

After releasing a gentle sneeze, Shantae decided to get up and head back into her lighthouse.

_With everything that's going on, the last thing I need is a cold._

The twist of a knob, the push of a door, and Shantae is back in her old home, stumbling a bit as her wet feet slipped on the stone floor.

The lighthouse was a originally created when Ammo Town, formerly known as Scuttle Town, was small enough to fit in the small cove it currently resided in, and the age showed. The building was made completely out of rough stones stuck together, less appealing to the eye than the buildings in Ammo Town.

Though it wasn't extravagant, it was still home to the young Guardian, with just enough room to fit everything she needed, from furniture, to lanterns, to a small cabinet made into a makeshift closet within.

Shantae looked around the humble abode, able to make out everything with the light from her lanterns.

_It's good to be home again._ Shantae thought as she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her, _I still can't believe it was only few days ago that I lost my position as Scuttle Town's protector._

_I thought I knew what I was doing, and I just charged in headfirst. I hardly thought about what could happen to Uncle Mimic while I was away. There's only so much Bolo and Sky can do against Risky. I messed up so badly without even realizing it, and nearly gave Risky control over my magic, yet... _Shantae caught a glimmer in the corner of her eye, and turned to see the golden band she used to tie her hair back and whip her enemy's.

_...Yet everyone still believes in me._ She picked up the small piece of jewelry, unclasping it, and looking at the scratches lining it, a sign of it's unusual use. The hair band has been with the former Half-Genie since she had first become the Guardian of Ammo Town a few years ago. Shantae recalled how nervous she was when she had accepted the position. The Mayor had practically begged her for help with safeguarding the town, still under the impression that Shantae was a full fledged Genie at the time.

Of course Shantae had full understanding of what she was, though it was only part of the reason she was so reluctant to accept it at the time. Since she was young, Shantae has had many reservations about what she was tasked to do, all of them stemming back to when she had first discovered her unique heritage...

_Even back then, I had someone to believe in me. Even when everything looked hopeless... why was that? I barely knew what I was doing, but there was always someone who still had faith in me..._

Shantae thought back, back to the time when her adventures had only begun. To when she was young, naive, and unaware of how truly dangerous Sequin Land was.

Back to when she learned she was born a Half-Genie.

* * *

**This is my first fanfic that I've written in quite a while, as well as my first one for 'Shantae' (and one of the only, unfortunately) so any feedback would be appreciated. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up within the next few weeks, though I can't make any promises with school starting up.**

**Anyway, until next time!**

**Edit: I just made an adjustment to the end of the chapter, just so that it was more of a 'proper' end, as well as fix up a slight glitch I made in the beginning.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Beginnings**

She had much to recollect from that day.

Clear water.

Falling stones.

Burning flames.

And most of all, a bright red eye looking straight at her. All these memories flashed before her, and what she couldn't believe was how simple the day had started.

* * *

Several years ago, Ammo Town, known to everyone as Scuttle Town at the time, had been a fairly peaceful location. The days normally went by without issue, with merchants, local or otherwise, selling their goods to the local people. To them, the worst thing they typically feared was a determined haggler.

The same could be said about all others in the city, nothing to fear, only business to get done. Fisherman only worried about losing a catch, Architects became tense due to a lack of inspiration, and children… well, most of them were just going on with their day without a care in the world.

One girl couldn't be classified as 'most children' though.

* * *

In a fairly large house in Scuttle Town's square, a young girl worked diligently, finishing up all of the chores she had been assigned by her Uncle to finish before he left to pick up supplies. Said house was full of worn furniture, several sections dedicated solely to study, and a complete lack of any decorative care. Overall, a home that was a bit bland, but perfectly functional.

The girl assigned to the task of cleaning up said home had been working diligently, dusting the furniture, organizing loose notes, and putting away any loose objects before he returned home. After giving her house a once-over, she had decided that almost everything was satisfactory.

Almost.

The young girl, known as Shantae, carried a fairly large story book under her right arm titled 'Light of the Djinn', a collection of short stories written by numerous people, detailing events where they were aided by genies in everyday life. They ranged to the fantastic to the mundane, but all of them fascinated the young lady carrying the book, to the point that she struggled to simply heft it over to the bookshelf it belonged in.

_Mmm… maybe Uncle Mimic's made an extra stop along the way…?_ The young woman thought, tempted by the tails held within the pages of the tome she held.

Shantae held the anthology up and looked at the cover, an illustration of a beautiful Genie, staring out at a faraway town in the distance, referencing the first story in the book that got her so devoted to it in the first place.

_I could just take a quick break… One story couldn't hurt…_

The young girl slipped her fingers into the pages of the book, slowly opening it…

And then slammed it closed!

_No, no NO! No distractions!_ She shook her head vigorously, _I promised I'd get this place spotless by the time Uncle Mimic got home, and gosh darn it, I'm gonna do it!_

Resolved to finish the task at hand, Shantae ran into the room next store, book in hand, prepared to climb up to the top and return the tome to its rightful place at the top of the bookshelf.

Though there was a slight issue with that plan.

"Oh yeah…" Shantae muttered as she looked down at the remains of what used to be her Uncle's ladder.

A few weeks ago, Shantae had been with her two close friends, and the three of them had been having a bit too much fun. In short, the day ended with the old ladder in pieces, and the three of them on the receiving end of Uncle Mimic's scolding.

Shantae frowned as she backed away to look at the top of the book case. The empty slot she originally picked out 'Light of the Djinn' had started to gather dust, and there didn't seem to be any easy way to get the book up there without a ladder to climb.

_Hmm..._

She looked around, confirming that there was nothing around the bookcase to help her reach the highest shelf, and then placed the book in question underneath her arm, checking its weight.

_Well... it's not _that_ heavy, and I do want to get this done before Uncle Mimic gets back... You know what?_

Shantae smiled, walking up to the bookshelf, brushing some of her hair behind her ear,

_With the future I've got planned, a little climb shouldn't scare me. I'll be fine._

And on that thought, Shantae hopped onto the bookcase, right hand secured on the bookshelf, and began her climb up, lifting her left leg up to get a good foothold, and then pulling herself up with her free arm, quickly to grab the shelf above. And after she felt she secure, Shantae repeated the process over and over, carrying 'Light of the Djinn' as she gradually made her way to the top.

Despite how straining the ascension was on her arm, or how slipping off one shelf could end with injuries if she lost her grip, she still powered on, focused on the task at hand.

_Almost there._

After climbing up the tenth shelf, Shantae had finally reached her goal, the empty slot where her book went. Shantae lifted the book from her side, lifting herself up to place said book in place. After pushing it in, Shantae let out a sigh of relief.

_I knew it! I knew I could do it! Uncle Mimic's gonna be so-_

"SHANTAE!" The girl in question's body tensed up as she looked down. She saw her Uncle looking up at her, his arms crossed, and his foot tapping against the ground.

"Oh... um... Hi Uncle Mimic." She said, trying to maintain an upbeat attitude, "You're back! Did you get everything you need?"

"Oh, almost everything," he stated calmly, clearly displeased, "I _was_ going to pick up my favorite niece, hoping she'd be waiting safe and sound at the house she was cleaning. Imagine my surprise to find her dangling from the top of my bookcase. Get down here this instant!"

"...Yes Uncle..." Shantae climbed down from where she was hanging, having a much easier time with both hands available. When she looked up at her Uncle, she didn't look directly at his face. She could always feel him glaring at her even with the goggles he always wore.

"Now, what were you doing up there young lady?" He asked patiently,

"I-I was just cleaning up... I dusted and moved everything around, and I just had to carry that book I was reading up to the bookcase." She stated,

"You mean the one called, 'Light of the Djinn'?"

"Mm-hm." Shantae nodded, taking a quick look at her Uncle's face, before looking away again,

"You carried it all the way to the top? Didn't you think about how you could have hurt yourself?"

Shantae nervously twirled a few strands of hair between her finger, "Well, I just... I didn't think it'd be a big deal for me. I climb up things all the time, and I managed to put the book away, so I don't see what the big deal is." Shantae said, hoping to calm her Uncle down. She looked up at him, only to see his mood hadn't changed at all.

"You really don't understand?"

"Well… I think I do…"

"The big deal," Uncle Mimic stated, "Is that you could have fallen and gotten hurt." He knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Shantae, look at me." She did as asked, and looked at him without issue. She could tell that his gaze had softened behind his optics. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just want you to be more careful. You're always so reckless, and I'm always worried that you might hurt yourself."

"Yeah, but... I wouldn't have done something to hurt myself on purpose, I just... I thought I could do it, you know? I'm sorry Uncle..."

"It's alright, just try not to do something like that again."

"I won't Uncle."

"Promise?"

"I promise!" Shantae gave her Uncle a wide grin, which he returned in kind with one of his own,

He stood up, saying, "Excellent. Well, since I know you're not going to do anything dangerous, and because you _did_ clean up," Mimic said as he look around the room they were in, "I suppose now is the best time to get going."

"Really?! Are you sure we can go?!" Shantae yelped, practically jumping for joy. She had been looking forward to this moment for days!

"Yes, and as soon as you and your friends are ready, we'll be able to leave."

"Alright! I'll go and tell them right away!" Shantae ran right out of the room, prepared to head straight for the door of her home. Nothing was going to stop her-

"One other thing." Nothing except for the voice of her Uncle,

Shantae had turned around and seen that her Uncle had put on his more serious demeanor, and she wondered what was bothering him,

"What is it Uncle?"

"You remember the time you promised not to pick up stray animals anymore?"

"Uh..." Shantae winced,

"And the time you promised to stop bothering the guards around the city?"

"Well..." Shantae looked at the floor, grabbing her arm,

"And the time you _promised_ to stop balancing along the edges of the city walls?" Mimic had crossed his arms again, and Shantae had no reaction to what he said this time, "Can I trust that you're going to stay out of trouble this time, like you say you will?"

"...Y-yes, Uncle, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful from now on." She said, making as best eye-contact as she could with her Uncle,

Mimic had let his arms fall to his sides, and looked at his niece, skeptical, "Really?"

"Really!" Shantae nodded her head vigorously,

"Honest?"

"Honest!" A smirk appeared on her Uncle's face,

"Promise?"

"I promise! I promise that I'm gonna keep my promise, even if I have to promise a million times over!" She said, her voice full of determination,

Her Uncle chuckled, and let her go, "I just had to be sure. After all, you can't be reckless when you're exploring ancient ruins!" He said, calling out to her as she ran off. Shantae would have stuck around to list, but she was too excited.

She had to get Sky and Bolo ready to leave, quickly.

* * *

**So... yeah, sorry I left this story dormant for so long. I was busy with school, and lost track of time, but I'm going to try to keep this updated regularly. Again, any constructive criticism would be appreciated. I'm a bit out of practice with my writing, so if there's any major (or minor) problems, feel free to point them out. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Friends (1)**

* * *

With the sun pouring its rays over the desert as usual, Scuttle Town was as hot as ever, with most of the citizenry desperate to hide themselves from the relentless heat. Most people who had to be out were interested only in trying to exert themselves as little as possible, their spirit's drained by the unpleasant weather.

Shantae wasn't one of those people.

A small purple blur dashing through the streets, making it's way through the streets of Scuttletown. Shantae slipped by anyone who may have gotten in her way, giving a quick shout of 'Sorry' to anyone she caught off guard. The crowded streets thinned out as she got closer to the outskirts of town, but even if all of Scuttle Town was flooded with people, it wouldn't have stopped Shantae. She was always full of energy, but now she was more excited than ever before.

_My very FIRST adventure outside of Scuttle Town! A dangerous trek into mysterious ruins, with no idea whether or I'll survive! All alone, with only my wits to guide me._

Shatae made a quick sidestep to her right, avoiding a woman with a water jar struggling to keep it's balance on her head...

_Well, not exactly, since it'll be a place my Uncle already visited with another Relic Hunter..._

...right before jumping over an alley cat that was careless enough to get in her way...

_...so he probably already know what's in it, and he wouldn't let me do anything that could get me hurt..._

...followed by Shatae reaching her first destination...

_...and it'll be with him and my friends..._

...which she almost missed, forgetting what little traction she got in the sand, sliding too far to the left, and nearly slamming into another building.

_...BUT it's still an adventure. My very first one! And I've got the best friends ever to take with me!_

Walking up at her destination, Shantae saw a modest house with several piles of wood piled outside of it, ready to be thrown out. She gave it a curious glance before going to knock on the door of he house before her. As she was about to strike the door, she heard a loud smack go off.

_Hm?_

Looking at her hand in confusion, Shantae heard the noise again, realizing it was coming from inside the house.

_I wonder what he's up to._

Shantae started rapping on the door, trying to get her friends attention.

"Bolo, it's me, Shantae, open up!" The noise from inside just kept repeating as she heard a voice respond,

"One sec', I'm busy!"

"Busy?" Curious, Shantae decided to run to the side of her friend's house, and get a look at what he was doing. She hopped up, grapping the ledge and peered inside to see-

***SMASH***

"GAH!" A loud noise erupted from beside Shantae, causing her to jump back, and slip in the sand. "Ouch... what the..."

Looking to her left, she gawked at the scene before her... or what was left of it. Mixed with the sand were the splinters from her friend's door, which had been mercilessly blown away by the iron ball now lying in the middle of the road.

In place of said door was Shantae's close friend Bolo, scratching his head, with a durable stick in hand.

"Well, Grandma's not gonna be happy about this..." Bolo walked out of his home to grab the metal ball, and toss it back into his home, hopefully ensuring it wouldn't cause any more destruction.

"Um... I'm okay, in case you were wondering..." Shantae said, brushing herself off as she stood back up.

"Oh, hey Shantae, what's up? You want to come in?" Bolo took another look around, "The door's open."

"Sure, sure... what happened? Were you training or something? You almost hit me with that metal ball." Shantae followed Bolo into his house, looking around at the messy room. The house was in need of a good cleaning, with some of the furniture being out of place, a bookshelf with some of it's inventory knocked out, and several pictures crooked and out of place. It seems that her friend's training was too much for the old home.

"Bolo Ball."

"Wha-Oh right, 'Bolo Ball'. Sure." Shantae's friend Bolo was never the brightest start in the sky, but he had a good heart. Unfortunately, it seemed that having one of those didn't do much for coming up with clever wordplay.

As she looked around, Shantae noticed a wooden figure, standing tall and strong, with only a few marks on it from being struck. One of the nicer things in the room, resembling a very basic, yet appealing caricature of a person, weighed down by a heavy stand. It could almost be considered a work of art.

It was a shame it was made for the purpose of being hit.

"Yeah, I decided to get some weapons training in for once, so I took out our old training dummy we made... and I broke it. So, I took out the back up one I made in case that ever happened... and I broke that too. After that, I took out a third one today, and... well, you can probably guess what happened."

"You broke your mace... I-I mean, 'Bolo Ball'?"

"No, I broke that last dummy too. But then I rebuilt, started swinging away, heard you at the door, and... well, you know." Bolo said, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about almost hitting you back then, by the way. But, I'm sure you would've been fine."

Shantae shrugged in response " Well, be more careful. We're both luck we didn't have to find out... by the way, remember that trip I was telling you about?"

"Hm? Yeah, I think. The one with your Uncle?" Bolo said distractedly, fiddling with what was left of his mace.

"Mm-hm! Well, get the bags ready, because it's time to go! We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're going to make decent time."

Bolo looked up, gave her a blank stare, and stopped fiddling with the stick. Scrunching his eyebrows together, he took a moment to think before responding with!

"OH YEAH! I remember now!" Bolo's expression turned to one of excitement! "It was that place your Uncle and Sky's Dad found, right? They brought back some _really_ shiny stuff."

"That's right!" Shantae took a second to reel in her own excitement, "But, it's just going to be more like a tour of the place, than a real adventure. No monster fighting, , maybe a few treasures, but there's definitely going to be some interesting sights."

Bolo frowned at Shantae's response, but nodded in acceptance anyway. "Well, so much for the training finally paying off. At least we'll be seeing parts unknown... to us at least." Bolo turned around, quickly running up the stairs in his home. "Gimme a minute to grab my things, I'll be ready with everything I need. I'm bringing the essentials, just like you told me too!"

"Hurry up! We need to get Sky!"

"Sure thing!"

As Bolo gathered his supplies, Shantae waited in the middle of the house. Rather than stand around fidgeting for five minutes, she decided to take a look at the dummy that Bolo had remade, tapping it with her foot, before shaking it up a little.

_Well, it looks like Bolo did a decent job patching this thing up... buuuuuut,_ Shantae crouched down, assuming a fighting stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet,_ it couldn't hurt to test it out._

Without a second though, Shantae started with a few light jabs, moving around the dummy, hitting it from all angles before jumping back, pretending it was a real enemy.

_Not bad,_

She then followed up with a light kick to the front of the dummy, pushing it back a bit, before striking it with a left and a right hook in it's "face". After that, she repeatedly continued to strike at it with a few normal punches, ducking and holding her arms up to block a potential strike, as if the dummy might hit back. She constantly shifted around, deciding to finish up with a sharp uppcercut.

Shantae rushed towards the dummy, fist clenched to launch the final blow-

"Hey!"

Until her concentration was ruined when Bolo's voice had cut in. She stopped her movement, leaning forward and almost falling flat on her face.

"Oh, hey Bolo... just testing out the dummy... works great." Shantae tapped it with her knuckles, a bit nervous about her friends reaction.

"Yeah, I figured it would. Thanks for making sure. Maybe I can be a carpenter if _my _Hero career doesn't work out..."

Shantae watched her friend muse to himself, lost in his down thoughts... as many as he could have anyway.

"So, you're not mad I started hitting it?"

"Hm?" Bolo looked up, surprised, "No, I just wanted to let you know you're form's looking good. I guess all that training's paid off."

"Well, I had a good teacher," Shantae said, "So, are you ready?"

"Yup! I got food, a tent, and my spare Bolo Ball all packed up." Bolo patted the bag on his back. "But before we go..." Bolo looked over at the dummy, which was still sturdy "Mind if I take a quick swing at this thing?"

"Mmm... Why not, I think I'll go for it too. My last hit, and your first." The two of them walked in front of the wooden dummy, and each stepped back.

"3..." Shantae tightened her fist,

"2..." Bolo winded back his arm,

**"1..." **Both spoke in unity,

**"GO!" **The two of them let loose their strongest punch on the dummy, knocking it's body away... and sending its head into the wall.

Bolo walked over to the head and picked it up, examining the damage, And then placing it on the floor next to the body, "Well, it was a quick job. Anyway, let's get going."

"Right. We need to get Sky. Hopefully, she's still feeling up for it..."

"I'm sure she she'll be happy spending time with us at least. No monsters to battle, but who could pass up old genie ruins?"

"Hm... good point. Either way, we won't know until we make sure."

With that, Shantae and Bolo left, to gather their friend Sky, before beginning their journey.

* * *

**Again, apologies for getting this chapter up so late. College had caught me off guard with the work, and all that. I should be able to get the second chapter up soon since school will be ending for me in just a few weeks. Until next time!**


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